Education
Education CHILDREN FROM 1 TO 6 A child, in their early life in our society, learns to respect the uniqueness of peers and give others the chance to be themselves. Early educators help with the skills of interaction, prompt them to pay attention to others’ needs, to care about others, and to be grateful and be willing and happy to learn about or meet other cultures and to have a positive feeling towards learning and others. This is helpful later in life when a person has to make responsible decisions that affect not only themselves. Children in our society until the age of three get educated by their parents, emphasizing, plural, parents so both parents, mom and dad, care for the child, teach and take responsibility for them the same amount. The children in this crucial time of their education and socializing are prompted to learn the necessary things which include ordinary things, like living without their favorite pacifier. Children, after age 3, attend a preschooling which is called kindergarten. Here they learn how to live, communicate, pay attention to others so the community lives on as a peaceful place to be. SCHOOL FROM 6 TO 15 In our nine-year-long education starting at age 6 up to age 15 in grades 1-9, our youngsters learn the basics in an environment which is kind, calm, stimulating and fun. School shall take place outside at times, but still be focused on the subject taught. This is mandatory. We refer to years one through nine as schooling so that it is clear that later studies are based on the job chosen and the way the pupils learn the best. Students get taught how they learn the best and the quickest but also learn the basics of other ways which may help in the jobs offered later. The pupils gain proficiency in the areas social sciences, natural sciences, languages, including sign language, and maths. Teachers teaching the students have a long training behind them which includes three years of training and some helping hours. Classes are often small and do not include more than 15 children. The pupils are expected to learn all subjects listed above. A big team spirit arises and all pupils feel appreciated. They have 32 hours a week of school including time for individual work but not including community service which is two times a week and shall help the students find the perfect job for themselves. The atmosphere inside the school is relaxed and informal. There are no high-stake tests or quizzes and the grading is done in a positive way so that no student and no parent feels bad. Pupils get report cards once a semester, once in autumn and once in the spring. The students must show by their grades that they have improved their ability in the subject. If they have not improved they will have extra courses during the mid-summer and other vacation days. It is seen as an honor to be taught more. The main vacations are in summer, autumn, winter, and spring. Every second week everyone has a three-day weekend. Usually one has school from Monday to Friday with Saturdays reserved for community services, and free amusement like sports, which may also be counted as education, done on Sundays. This already fills up a student’s week. Teachers make the subjects interesting for the children with an emphasis on the connection to real-life situations. School should be something that the pupils enjoy. TRANSITION FROM SCHOOL TO JOB TRAINING At age 15 citizens get their job offers. These are carefully chosen by the elders who can watch their progress and difficulties throughout the year and carefully make a selection. They present five jobs to the pupils on the Choosing Day in Midsummer and let them choose one of the five offered jobs. Pupils only have five options because in our society we cannot have vacant positions. This is very important especially in our society consisting of only 100 people. For example, if we had no teachers how should the students learn. Different jobs have a different length of training. To become a teacher, for example, one must train intensely in a school for three years and do some help hours. This is unlike the training of firefighters who have to be strong and able to keep a calm mind when in a stressful situation. Firefighters only have two years of training but are already allowed to go to the positions vacant after one. All jobs have different training lengths which also depend on the time needed to get individual people ready for the job. Everyone's job should satisfy and excite them. ADULTS WITH THE URGE TO LEARN MORE Some adults have the urge to learn again. One always learns whether one is a child or an adult. But if an adult feels like learning something they do not know and cannot find out by themselves, they can go to the elders or talk to the school. Sometimes a group of adults might have the urge to learn more about a certain thing as a hobby. They can have a small, so to speak, study group and will get support from the community.